


Talking

by AndYetNotBeingDisenchanted



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Academy Era, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Consent is Sexy, Dialogue Heavy, First Kiss, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Paul is bad at emotions, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 11:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12387390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndYetNotBeingDisenchanted/pseuds/AndYetNotBeingDisenchanted
Summary: Paul is arrogant.Hugh is in love with him.Paul is bad at feelings.Hugh isn't great at them either.





	Talking

Paul Stamets didn’t care for people, they generally talked too much to said too little. Paul didn’t like this Doctor Culber fellow any more than he liked other people. Sure he was attractive, he was intelligent, he had marginally more social skills than Paul himself, he was compassionate and he was kind. Just because he was good at everything, didn’t mean that Paul liked him. Paul preferred Straal, Straal didn’t seem to talk about anything but mushrooms, Paul didn’t care for talking about anything but mushrooms either. 

Paul sat in his lab, looking at the screen and moving the slide around with his fingers. He grunted in response to whatever Culber was saying and he looked back at the microscope and switched the slide.

“You just don’t want to talk to me.” Culber said, sitting down beside, “I find I don’t much like you, either.” Culber scoffed, sitting down next to Paul.

“How old are you, anyway?” Paul asked, not looking up from the image of his mushrooms.

“I’m twenty four, not that it's any of your business. How old are you?” 

“Twenty six, and I’m your superior officer, you should refer to me as sir.”

“Refer to me as Doctor,  _ Ensign _ .” 

Stamets rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. 

“Tell me,  _ sir _ , why is it that you hate me?”

“I assure you,  _ Doctor _ , I do not hate you.” Stamets rolled his eyes again and turned to face Culber, immediately regretting it when his breath caught and his heart fluttered,  _ Shit, I may actually be in love with this guy. _ “Why do  _ you _ hate me, Doctor?”

“I don’t hate you either.” Hugh said. Crossing his eye and pointing at a cell cluster on the screen, “That cell cluster is distinctly of the kingdom, animalia.”

“Not surprising, seeing as they’re both eukaryotic.” Paul said, letting his eyebrows furrow and trying not to focus on the heat generated from his shoulder where Culber’s hand rested. He shook Culber’s hand off and stood up, “This one, however, looks prokaryotic.”

“Not exactly my area of expertise.”

“Then why don’t you leave?”

“I think I will, I do have a lunch date.” he smirked, pulling on his coat, “For the record, Ensign, I’m a lieutenant, and your commanding officer.” Culber held his collar out, showing off the two pips on it, “I guess I’ll just have to call you Paul,” he smiled.

“Well, sir.” Paul said, not looking away from the screen because he was sure he was redder than a tomato, being as pale as he was could do that to a guy, “How would you feel about me calling you Hugh?”

“I would prefer it to both Doctor and Lieutenant.” he smiled, “I’ll see you later, Paul.”

  
  


Hugh had a lunch date… with his mother. He would be crazy if he thought he could even try to have a relationship with another guy when he had it so bad for Paul. He sighed, he had had his fair share of boyfriends (A few girlfriends mixed in there too), but none of them really mattered, a lot of first dates, a few second dates. He’d had four third dates ever. Of those four, one of them was a girl he dated for thirteen months his freshman year of high school, seeping into his sophomore year too. Of those four he slept with two, the first was the same girl, that, he would regret forever, it was the night after their last date, she had begged and Hugh, at the time, was still convinced he was straight. The other was a young man his junior year at the academy, they had been dating for four months, the young man told Hugh he loved him and kissed him gently and tenderly, that night was the last time Hugh saw him. So Hugh had had sex two times, he had thought he was in love three times, the third time, was with Paul. Hugh was undoubtedly a romantic, he believed in true love, he almost believed in soulmates, but realistically, with the number of humans in the universe, let alone the number of humanoids it was beyond unlikely. Regardless, Hugh felt like Paul was the one, he didn’t have the charm that had attracted him to other men in the past, he was extremely attractive, but he wasn’t particularly kind or compassionate; of all of the things Hugh had thought were the traits he would see in the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, Paul had half of them, but Hugh had no doubts that he would marry Paul if he asked that day.

Hugh smiled as he sat down across from his mother in the cafe just off campus. She smiled at him in return, she was wearing her bronze engineering uniform and her hair was tied in a bun at the crown of her head. “Mom.” he said. 

“Hugh.” Laura Culber said, smiling and passing her son a menu, “How is this project going? You know, the one about the mushrooms.”

“It’s going well, yeah.” Hugh nodded, smiling at the waiter when he dropped a water off next to him and took his order. He turned back to his mother when the waiter left.

“And the ensign you’re working with?”

Hugh could feel his ears heating up, they would be bright red if he had a complexion like Paul’s, “He’s - he’s kind of a prick.”

“Last time you gave him a glowing report, did you change your mind?” Laura was clearly on the verge of laughing, her eyes sparkling, Hugh assumed she could tell how smitten he was with the man.

“No, he’s all of those things, but he’s also kind of a prick.” 

“He’s not like that Matthews kid from a few years ago, is he?” she asked, her face more serious.

“No. He’s not like that at all.” Hugh smiled, “He’s not nearly as charming.”

“Not charming?”

“No, he’s a prick.”

Laura smiled, looking down at her drink, “Don’t let him hurt you, Hugh.”

“I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

“So he could hurt you that much easier.” Laura took her son’s hand, “Be careful sweetheart.”   
  


 

Paul and Hugh sat at opposite sides of the lab, facing their own microscope screens and taking notes on their PADDs. “Are you gay?” Paul asked, feigning nonchalance as he looked at his screen. Hugh raised an eyebrow, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice when he responded, “Sorry, forget I asked.” Paul shook his head and looked down, pressing his lips together.

“Yes.”

“What?” Paul asked, turning to face Hugh

“I’m gay.” Hugh smiled, not looking up from his PADD, “Why? Are you gay?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose you’re interested in me then.” Hugh blushed, trying to keep his hands still when Paul was silent for too long.

“No.”

Hugh swallowed dryly, not saying anything as tried to resume working. “I um -” he stood up, not looking over at Paul, “I need to go and um, Talk to Professor Phlox.” Hugh nodded, walking towards the exit of the lab, hoping Paul would stop him but not being surprised in the slightest when he didn’t. 

  
  


Paul watched as Hugh left, his throat dry, he couldn’t swallow, he gasped for air, closing his eyes. Paul crossed his arms, he did it again, he knew that Hugh was probably going to go request a transfer from Professor Phlox and Paul was probably never going to see him again. Paul leaned back as much as his chair would allow, he had ruined another relationship, but this time he actually cared about the guy. He was actually in love with Doctor Hugh Culber. Hugh wasn’t like the rest, a quick shag in their quarters or in a broom closet. Paul had never cared about anyone like this before, no one had even given him the time of day - no one had ever expressed interest in an actual relationship, sex, after all, was not the same thing as love. 

Straal walked into the lab, raising an eyebrow when he saw Paul, “Should I go?”

Paul shook his head, “No, no you’re fine. There is work to do.” 

“It’s Culber, isn’t it?” Straal sighed.

“You know, the primary reason I like you is because you only talk about mushrooms.”

“Then why do you like Culber?”

“I don’t… particularly.”

“That’s a lie.”

Paul crossed his arms, “I hate you.” 

“And you love Culber.” 

“We have mushrooms to attend to."

  
  


Hugh pressed his lips together, trying not to cry until he got to his quarters. He locked the door, wishing he was a better engineer so he could lock his roommate out. He ran the sonic shower, stepping into it and washing his short hair, and letting tears fall, he wished it was a standard water shower like his aunt had in her country house. He sighed, stepping out and cringing when he heard the overall unpleasant sound of his roommate’s favorite television series. Hugh pulled on his civvies, a garnet colored sweater and brown slacks and stepped out into the room, facing the other man, a command track cadet pending assignment. 

“George.” Hugh said. In greeting, the blue face of the Andorian, reclining on his bed. Hugh sat down on his own bed and closed his eyes, folding hands over his diaphragm. 

“Didn’t go well?”

“What didn’t go well?” Hugh asked, not opening an eye.

“You were going to ask that dick, Stamets, weren’t you?”

“Ask him what?”

“To go on a date with you.”

“He’s not interested.”

“Tough.” Hugh nodded, “He seems like a flower to me.”

“He’s gay, he’s just not interested in me.” Hugh had long since stopped trying to correct George's less than ideal nomenclature.

George nodded, “Tough.”

The door chimed, making George sit up with an eyebrow raised, he paused his show and stood up. 

  
  


Paul stood bolt upright from his mushrooms. "I’m going to go find Hugh.” he said. Straal nodded, giving him a thumbs up and not looking away from his PADD. Paul left the building, running through the campus towards Paul’s quarters. They had worked on a project together two years prior, Paul hoped Hugh still had the same quarters. 

A young Andorian man answered the door, “Paul, right?” the man smiled, extending a hand, “George.”

Paul took the man’s hand, nodding and trying to look around him, “I - I want to talk to Doctor Culber.”

“Doctor Culber?” George raised an eyebrow before turning around to face the inside of the room, “That prick is here!” he called. Paul could feel himself flush, he chewed his lip.

“Don’t call him that.” Hugh said, walking out from the other room. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me again.” he turned to George, stepping outside of his quarters and allowing the door to slide closed behind him. 

“I’m not interested in you.” Paul said.

Hugh furrowed his brow, “Y’know, I actually got that already -”

“What I mean is,” Paul interrupted, “I’m not just interested in you. In the past when I’ve said I was interested in someone, I meant that I wanted to have sex with them.”

“And you don’t want to do that with me?” 

“No. no. I do, but I also want to do other things, like - like go on dates with you and - and - and marry you.”

“Marry me?”

“Yes. I mean - not right now, but at some point.”

Hugh smiled, “I am so in love with you.” Hugh placed a hand on the side of Paul’s head, “May I kiss you?”

“Yes. Please.” Paul smiled, leaning in towards Hugh, their lips pressed against one another, gentle and Paul’s hand met Hugh’s hair, pressing into the back of his neck. “I’m sorry - I’m not great with emotions.” he whispered when they pulled apart.

“No need to apologize. I’m already in love with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed. I absolutely love Disco, I absolutely love Hugh and Paul. Please point out any grammatical errors!


End file.
